Possibility of Renting my Home

[Matt Mann]

Hello all, i'm comming in hopes for a little insight. A little back story. My wife and I purchased our home in 2008. It was built in 2006 so we are the 2nd owner's. We purchased it for $122,000. We also cashed in on the 1st time homebuyers credit and so we cant legally sell it or rent it until Sept. of this year without having to repay the $8000 we got.

During this time span my wife and I have decided that we are going to move to Anchorage Alaska. We have been planning and saving and preparing for this move for 2 years now. Our goal has been to wait until september to sell the house and hopefully break even on our mortgage. This is where the curveball has been thrown at us. We recieved a letter from the City that has stated that our house is now appraised at $105,000. Needless to say that if we sell the house in September now, we would not have the funds to make up the difference owed to the bank and also fulfill our dreams of moving. This is a huge blow to us as we have been planning and saving for this move for over 2 years now.

So it seems to us now that the only way of still being able to to what we want to do is going to be renting out our house. Neither of us have any experience in renting any properties. Now with us hopefully moving in July or August this would seem to be difficult as far as being landlords to the property. On the other side of that, my parents live only 10 minutes away from our house and I believe they would have no problems serving as a liason so to speak for us and also looking after the property.

So after all of that I have a couple of questions. Our monthly mortgage is just under $900. So obviously we are hoping to rent the house right at that $900 mark or of course a little more. Im having difficulty looking up properties nearby to see how much they are renting for as a comparison. Does anyone know where I can go to view other rental properties to compare?

Would there be any problems or suggestions as far as having my parents essentially being the landlords? IE - does there name need to be put on the house/lease/anything?

Any suggestions or insight in to our situation that I havnt thought of?

What if comparable prices to rent in the area are less than $900? Would it be stupid to take say $700 or $800 a month in rent and just eat the rest ourselfs just so we can fulfill our move?

How long and drawn out is the process to become a "landlord" and what would be my next step in drawing up a lease when the time is right?

Thanks for any information.
Matt